The Corps of Discovery Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3: A multiverse series of alternate history

by James S. Peet

  “Yessir,” was all Drew could say, mouth so dry he could barely get the words out.

  “Then again, we ain’t looking at this from the outside, and you didn’t screw the pooch. From everything I’ve heard, all the way from Memphis to Birmingham to Atlanta to Savannah, you did a right fine job. You tracked those men all the way, and if they hadn’t been whatever the hell they were, as they sure weren’t college students, you’d have ‘em in custody right now.

  “Matter of fact, every person I spoke to, and that includes chiefs of police, police captains, police officers, and our own staff in Atlanta, you did one helluva job. About the only thing I can find fault in is letting Brown take the lead in the actual arrest. Sounds like he didn’t consider them guys dangerous.”

  Drew was surprised to hear this. Having expected to be chewed out, fired, and possibly brought up on charges, this was quite the eye-opener.

  With mouth a bit moister, he said, “Sir, none of us were expecting those guys to be able to fight like they did. I don’t even recall how they managed to beat us. We all thought that they had taken the cops in Memphis by surprise attack from behind, but I know we were facing them. No way they could’ve taken us both out in that room from behind, especially since we had just entered it.”

  “Yeah, that’s what got me wondering. With that kind of advanced fighting skills, they’re likely some sort of spies. Maybe from the Republic of California, more likely the U.S. of A., though.”

  “Sir, I’m gonna disagree with you on that. Not many Negroes in the U.S., leastways that they would trust. Fewer Hawaiians or Asians. I’m betting they really were from the Republic of California, like their passports say, and with your permission, I’d like to continue tracking them down.”

  That certainly caused Haussmann’s eyebrows to rise up, almost to his hairline. “How? We ain’t got any extradition treaty with them.”

  “That’s true, but we do with Texas.”

  Haussmann brought his hand up and stroked his chin in thought. “So, you’re thinking of somehow getting them to Texas and having them extradited from there?”

  “Yessir. If I can show the Texas authorities that there’s a bounty on them, they’ll incarcerate them long enough to get an extradition hearing. Somehow, I doubt that the Republic of Texas cares as much for a bunch of cop-killers from the Republic of California than they do in maintaining good relations with the Confederacy.

  “You let me, Wendall, and a small squad of bounty hunters go after them and we’ll drag their asses back to El Paso in a small truck. We’ll pretend we’re all bounty hunters, which means they’ll need to have a bounty on them from the CBE, Memphis Police, or Atlanta Police. Hell, why not from all three? From there, you send a SAC from here or New Orleans, and we extradite them to here, give ‘em a “fair” trial, then hang ‘em.”

  Haussmann thought about it for a few seconds, which seemed like hours to the nervous Special Agent. Finally, he said, “Okay. Let’s do it. I’ll issue a bounty and I’ll get matching bounties from Memphis and Atlanta. How much you figure on?”

  Drew had been thinking of this since leaving Savannah, so he had a ready answer. “At least fifty-thousand dollars each, payable in gold. That’s enough to not only justify my traveling there but if word gets out, somebody else might just nab them for us.

  “I think I can squeeze fifty-thou from each of the cities. You put together a list of what you need and get it to me this afternoon. Any thoughts on where you’ll find some bounty hunters?”

  Drew grinned. “I’m sure some local bail bondsmen might be interested.”

  The next day, Drew and Wendall caught the train from Montgomery to Birmingham. The bounty hunters had taken off the day before, practically running to the train station upon hearing how large the bounty was.

  Ironically, with the exception of riding a riverboat up the Mississippi from Memphis to St. Louis, the two agents would be tracing the same steps the Explorers made on their way to the Confederacy. Drew didn’t know exactly where to start, other than that the four suspects had each passed themselves off as graduate students, so they would start at the colleges and universities scattered throughout the state. Most of them were in the Puget Sound area, which is where the bounty hunters, operating in pairs, would start. The two CBE agents would begin their search in Spokane and cover the schools in the eastern half of the state. There was a CSA consulate in Seattle, and each evening they would report in to the consul and let them know where they were. Whoever found the suspects first would report in and wait for the others to get the message and come running. Drew had serious doubts they would find the two students from Texas or Hawaii.

  Along with their revolvers, the two agents brought issued pump-action shotguns, which they carried in gun bags. They elected to leave the submachine guns at home so as to not appear too conspicuous. Each man carried four handcuffs, rather than the usual one, along with four sets of leg irons. They also each carried a copy of the bounty announcement, just in case. Drew had additional funds, in gold, that he would use to buy a truck when they got to Washington. It had to be big enough to fit eight people in the back: the four suspects and four guards. Drew wasn’t taking any chances this time. Each pair of bounty hunters had also been given funds to purchase an automobile for their part in the search. Those would either be sold or ditched once the apprehension was made and all four bounty hunters were needed for guard duty.

  And, just to help out, Drew had mailed a notice of the bounty to all bail bond agents he found listed in the telephone books for Washington State that they had found in the CBE library. It was amazing what information the librarians found and kept, and just how useful they were.

  Drew didn’t want the cop-killers getting away a second time.

  78

  Getting from Annapolis to Baltimore the next morning was another bus ride, this one a lot shorter. Bill sent Matt and Lane to Penn Station to buy the tickets for all of them, while he and the rest took a taxi to the forger’s location. It turned out to be a relatively upscale Federal Era rowhouse in the Fells Point neighborhood in a town renowned for its rowhouses.

  A brass door-knocker served as the only means of notifying the occupant that guests were waiting, so Bill took hold of it, gave three short raps, and waited. Shortly afterward, he could hear noises from inside, and the door opened. Facing him was a short, gnarled older man with eyeglasses that indicated rather severe myopia. Bill would have called them coke-bottle glasses, but he doubted that anyone in this timeline would know what he was talking about.

  “Can I help you?” the man asked.

  “Yeah, I called yesterday. Rhodes sent me.”

  Looking about to see if anyone was watching, the man then stepped back inside ushering the four in. He closed the door and asked, “Got the money?”

  Bill reached into a pocket and pulled out four small coins. Each was an ounce of gold, a flying eagle and the words “United States of America” and “Twenty Dollars” above the bird, and the date below. They were from a recent mint Bill realized. The man held the coins for a second and then slipped them into his pocket.

  “Follow me,” he said, turning and walking down the narrow hall to a small room. Inside was a camera set up on a tripod with a blank screen on the wall. He gestured for Einstein to stand in front of the screen. The forger made a quick adjustment with the lens while looking through the viewfinder, then said, “Look directly at the camera, hold still, and don’t smile.”

  Einstein did as directed and there was a bright flash. “Okay, you can step away now,” the man said, removing a burnt bulb from the flash. As soon as the bulb was replaced, he went through the same steps with Summer.

  Once the pictures were taken, he said, “I’m going to soup this film. You just hang tight in the living room by the front hall. If you’re bored, there’re some magazines in there. It’s only gonna take five or ten minutes to soup the film, but another half-hour or so to dry. Prints’ll take less time since I’ve got a print dryer for those.
”

  Einstein was the first in the living room and chose what looked to be the most comfortable seat. Bill took another while Summer and Jordan sat on an overstuffed sofa. From the reading material scattered on a coffee table, Bill grabbed the top newspaper and began reading without paying particular attention to the stories.

  In less than ten minutes, the forger joined them. “Negatives look good. Soon as they’re dry, I’ll make the prints. Now, what country do you want for your passports?”

  Bill suggested the Republic of California for both and gave them Seattle addresses, locations close to the University of Washington that he was familiar with. At least, he hoped they existed on this timeline. He hadn’t checked. He also suggested changing Einstein’s name. The forger didn’t even blink. “What name you want?” he asked the German. Einstein thought about it, then said, “There was this Austrian painter I liked. May I use his name or a variation?”

  “Sure, just give me a name.”

  “His name was Adolf. Adolf Hitler.”

  Bill almost choked when he heard that, but not seeing a reaction from the forger, he realized that Hitler wasn’t likely known as the man responsible for World War II in Europe and the Holocaust on this Earth. Looking over a Jordan, he could see the surprise on his face.

  He suggested, “How about we use Adolf Hister? That way if another Hitler fan sees your passport, they won’t comment on it or be likely to remember it.”

  “Ja, that would work.”

  “And, you?” the forger asked Summer.

  She elected to go with her real name. It wasn’t as if the Confederacy would be looking for her, or even know who she was.

  The forger went back into his small office, and a half-hour later emerged with two passports, both looking well worn. Einstein’s had plenty of stamps from all over, but particularly Germany and German colonies. Summer’s was less stamp-filled, with only a few stamps showing passage from the Republic of California to the United States. Jordan recommended at least one stamp showing entry into the Confederate States of Mexico, explaining, “That way we can act like a married couple and say we were on our honeymoon.” As a Californian, it was expected that he might have gone into one or both of the Mexicos on vacation, and had several stamps for both in his passport. Looking at Jordan’s passport, the forger chose the most recently dated stamp, and within minutes had an identical stamp in Summer’s passport.

  While the new passport holders held their passports, the forger disappeared once again, emerging ten minutes later with two small photographs. He showed them to Einstein and Summer, then took their passports back, went back into his small office, and worked his forgery magic.

  Five minutes later, the four were back on the street, waiting for a taxi that the forger had called for them. Another ten minutes and they were in Penn Station, looking for their companions.

  As Bill had discovered the day before, there were several routes one could take by train to get from Baltimore to Chicago. One could go through Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, or Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. One could also take some of the smaller trains and connect to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on the other side of the District of Columbia. Considering the Germans had a consulate in Philadelphia, that option was out. So was Washington, D.C., as Bill suspected that the Confederacy likely had spies out looking for them there, along with it being where the German Embassy to the United States was located. That left going through Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and then on to Chicago via the Baltimore and Ohio.

  From Chicago, they would take a train westward to Minneapolis where they’d switch and take a Northern Pacific train all the way through the northern Great Plains until they crossed the Rockies in Deseret and into the Republic of California in Washington. From there, a transfer in Spokane, another in Ellensburg, then a short ride to Yakima. All in all, about another five days of travel and they’d be home.

  When the three arrived at Penn Station, they found Matt sitting on a bench near the main entrance. He spotted them, got up and came over, surreptitiously handing them their tickets. “Train leaves in two hours. Jordan’s over at the bar, Summer. I recommend you joining him.”

  It took her a moment to find the bar, but she did and headed that way, ticket in one hand, luggage in the other, and head held high. It would be the first time in her life that she would be entering a bar that allowed everyone, not just whites, for a drink and to sit and relax. Bill could see she was terrified and admired her the more for it.

  Turning back to Matt, he asked, “So, what’s the scoop?”

  “Tickets are open seating to Harrisburg. After that, it’s an overnight to Chicago. I put Jordan and Summer in a separate sleeper compartment.” The grin on Matt’s face could only be described as evil. “We’re booked into the Drake Hotel tomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll get more funds for the rest of the trip, as we’re almost tapped out.”

  “Yeah,” Bill said. “But, sometimes, you just gotta spend money on the right thing.”

  Matt followed Bill’s eyes to where Summer was disappearing into the bar.

  “Yeah. Sometimes you do,” Matt agreed. Jordan meant just as much to him as he did to Bill, and if that meant spending some of their limited funds to help his new “friend,” then it was worth it. No amount of money, in Bill’s opinion, would ever be able to pay the debt he owed his friend for Jordan’s role in rescuing the Trekkers on Planet 42.

  The train ride to Harrisburg was uneventful, as was the ride to Chicago. At least, from Harrisburg to Chicago, they got to sleep. Lane agreed to bunk with “Hister” which made Bill and Matt feel like they were back in their Probie stage when they were roommates. Of course, they each had their own bedroom in the cabin on Jaskey Lane.

  For the first time since arriving in Memphis, Bill felt he could relax and unwind. The six were still not interacting too much, trying to avoid the appearance of being a group and making it more difficult for anyone searching for them. Bill had weighed the risk of splitting the group up, with pairs taking different trains, but figured the potential problems that would arise from that might outweigh whatever problems arose from being identified by Germans or Confederate agents.

  The next morning the train pulled into Chicago. Despite being the middle of July, the temperature and humidity weren’t too bad. Certainly not at the level they had experienced in Atlanta nor expected in Chicago.

  Before leaving the station, Bill checked on the times and prices for trains to Yakima. It looked like the closest they would be able to get would be Spokane, where they’d have to catch another train. The two-day trip, even riding second-class, cost more than they had. As Bill looked at the price, he fervently hoped that Miles had received his telegram and had responded. The ten ounces of gold he had requested, or two hundred dollars, would get them there with plenty to spare.

  A short cab ride brought Bill and Matt to the Drake Hotel where they were informed that while they could check in, they could not occupy their room until after noon. Also, the desk clerk notified Bill that there was a telegram for him. It was a response from Miles, saying the money was sent to them via the Drake Hotel. When Bill asked the desk clerk about it, showing her the telegram, she contacted the concierge. Within minutes, Bill had twenty twenty-dollar coins, not just the ten he had requested. He gave several to Matt. “I’ll split this among the others when they get here.”

  The two men were allowed to leave their packs, and in Bill’s case, his gun bag, at the front desk until their rooms became available.

  “We’ll take your luggage to your rooms as soon as they’ve been cleaned,” the desk clerk said.

  Bill left messages for the other two Explorers, asking them to meet in his room after lunch.

  With several hours to kill until their room became available, Bill and Matt decided to explore Chicago, starting with window shopping in the hotel’s arcade level. After a quick perusal, they made their way outdoors but elected to stay near the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue.

  As they walked, looking
at the skyscrapers, none of which reached the heights that they did on Bill’s Earth, Bill wondered how the homicide rate in this Chicago compared with the one on his Earth. As best as he could recall, Chicago’s murder rate was one of the worst in the U.S., with around four hundred murders per year with only about a fifth of them ever being solved.

  A turn onto Ohio Street brought them to Lake Michigan, where they spent time walking along the shoreline. Other than flying above it, this was the first time either man had seen the large, freshwater lake.

  Looking toward the horizon, Bill commented, “Quite a sight, isn’t it?”

  “For some reason, I thought you could actually see the other shore,” Matt said. “Not sure why I thought that. Sure ain’t possible. How far across you think it is here?”

  “From here? Probably about forty or fifty miles. I think it’s almost a hundred miles wide at its widest.”

  Matt just shook his head.

  Eventually, the two found a restaurant overlooking the lake and had lunch. Bill elected to try their “world-famous prime rib” and wasn’t disappointed. It was tender enough to cut with a fork, practically melted in his mouth, and was crusted with kosher salt. Matt tried a locally caught Chinook salmon steak. Both men were surprised to hear about the Pacific native fish being in Lake Michigan, but the waiter explained they had been introduced to combat other invasive species that came in when the St. Lawrence Seaway opened and wiped out many of the native fish species.

  Lunch over, the two men returned to the Drake Hotel and were given the keys to their suite, where they found their packs and Bill’s gun bag already there.

  Minutes later, there was a rap on the door. Opening it, Bill saw Jordan and Summer waiting, holding hands. He ushered the two in without saying a word, and before he could close the door, saw Lane and Einstein walking down the hall.

  After everyone was in the room, Bill gestured for them to take seats. There were enough for everyone except Bill, which was fine with him. He said, “Okay, quick planning session. First off, we need tickets to Spokane. I recommend we use the same pairing we did getting here and reserve sleeping compartments. Anyone have any problems with that?”